Monthly Archives: February 2017

In the fall of 2003, my Department Chair asked me to create “some kind of e-marketing course” because all the students were talking about the Internet so I happily did for the Spring 2004 semester. Even though the syllabus had some sort of official business school title (the title as changed multiple times since 2004), I call this experience the “Dr. Dan-o Course” as it was entirely dreamed up inside of my head.

I love this course and I’ve taught it at least once per year since I created it. Each time, I take a deep dive into the cutting edge and make changes, adding new articles and topic areas. This year, 25% of the articles are new (click this link Dr. Dan-o Class) to check out the revised reading list. For those of you who not have this experience, I’m sure there will be at least a dozen or so articles on this syllabus that you will love.

It was a roller coaster of a Super Bowl both on the field and in the commercials off the field. Given our current political climate, it was not surprise that the dominant theme of the evening was “unity” – starting from the pre-game rendition of “American the Beautiful” with the added “sisterhood” after “brotherhood” to Lady Gaga with the halftime show to Hyundai’s excellent 90 second post-game spot with the soldiers in Poland. There were some laughs – I really liked the “Skittles” spot as well as Kia’s with Melissa McCarthy but humor did not rule the night. Although creative and unique, even humor king Bud Light went more “Ghost of Christmas Past” with their interesting and on message (but not funny) “Ghost of Spuds” spot.

I had a blast on Twitter with a number of professors ranking the ads. We missed the humor; the Super Bowl is a party and people expect humor but largely, we agreed there were 5 or 6 standout spots. I had Kia, Audi, Buick, Mr. Clean, and 84 Lumber in my top 5. Skittles, Alfa Romeo, and BAI were also strong and noteworthy. If you missed any, check out the USA Today Ad Meter ranking.

I was also impressed the interplay between social and the super bowl spots. Mr. Clean did a great job digitally interacting on social before their ad aired. The same could be said for Hyundai and their social media teasers prior to their excellent post-game ad. Intel also gets a big thumbs up for their half time drones that they promoted via social. However, some integration did not work out as well as the Square Space ad was flat, unless you saw the pre-super bowl teaser online first.

That’s a wrap folks and we’ll see if these ads and their themes last throughout 2017.